40 MAY 2017 / TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM
Chasing Calm
Sleepy Tangalle, on the south coast of Sri Lanka,
is getting new investments on its perfect sands.
Head there soon, before you have to share
the waves. BY JENINNE LEE-ST. JOHN/ beyond/GETAWAY
AS WE GLIDE OVER A BRIDGE towards the neighborhood
of villas, some unusual activity below has me halt my
driver. A man is in a rowboat, in a slow-motion chase.
His prey? A wily duck, flapping in the stream trying to
escape bedtime. The audience includes a safe of other
ducks, already confined to their cage but seeming to
cheer on their defiant compatriot. After a comedic,
aquatic back-and-forth straight out of a Laurel and
Hardy movie, the duck wrangler manages to use his
paddle to propel the naughty bird in the direction of the
cage, where three small women tussle, toss him in and
shut the wire door behind. I can’t stop laughing.
“Every night,” my butler Kanishka Sandaruwan
shakes his head with a smile, turns a key, and restarts
his electric rickshaw. It’s edging near dusk at Anantara
Peace Haven Tangalle Resort, time for sundowners
facing the sea as the skies go violet, canary, persimmon.
I’ve got to get to my villa to change, but I also want to
drink in as much of the resort as I can before night falls.
It feels like a real village, an echo of the world beyond its
gates. Kanishka points out the path the coconut ladies
will bike during the day. “Just call them if you want some
water,” he says. “It’s for the whole neighborhood.” Indeed,
the next afternoon I’m sitting at my pool and spy two
women carting coconuts. I wave, they come over and
hack one open on my deck. I sip it in my lounge chair as I
watch the peacocks hop among the treetops.Cliff-top views
at Il Mare.Coconut delivery
at Anantara.
>> FROM TOP: COURTESY OF ANANTARA PEACE HAVEN TANGALLE RESORT; LEO MCHUGH